Slightly tall and very thin for these reaches of the Galaxy, on 2013 Earth, he'd be about 6' 0" and weight only 165 lbs. Elliott is very fair-skinned with reddish hair and a very neatly trimmed beard. He can project an air of noble upbringing when necessary, but most of the time prefers to be simply invisible, wearing the most conservative and common styles and even coloring his hair and beard if needed so he doesn't stand out. Alone with friends in a safe environment he can be gregarious and even goofy at times. At these times his mannerisms can be torn in two directions: his upbringing dictates he be somewhat of a snob and rely on his social class; his background, training, and personal beliefs dictate that he be an egalitarian who accepts all Sophonts on the basis of their abilities and merits.
Elliott originally applied to the Imperial Marines with high hopes of an illustrious career, but was rejected because of his STR 4 score. He was then drafted into the Sector-wide Space Navy. This catastrophically ended with him receiving mortal injuries during a strike action his second year in. He spent a year and a half in the Naval Hospital at Lunion where the best doctors rebuilt him the best they could.
Next, being rather full of himself, he approached the top Sector-wide Merchant lines on planet: Tukera Star Lines. They were intrigued by his encyclopedic knowledge of trading affairs and politics, and gave him a chance.
They refused an immediate commission, then a captain saw him trying to manhandle a deck polisher and failing at it. Guessing he'd kill himself and others as a normal deckhand, he figured it was safer if "Ell" were an officer and put him up for exams. These he passed with flying colors, and so was immediately sent off as a Cadet on a hazardous but potentially very profitable Speculative Trading Tour.
He returned to base having gotten himself completely shot up... again!
Fortunately, he learned to handle himself in a Vacc Suit before the fight, and spent his convalescence time studying computers. 26 years old and having been seriously injured twice, he was now older, wiser, much more humble, and MUCH more cautious!
Upon return to active merchant service, he took the Fourth Officer exam and again passed it with flying colors on the first try.
The shipping line decided to keep him around a bit. Based on his outstanding scores and broad education, they sent him to command school. He failed to distinguish himself there, not really being command material. He learned a lot about administration, though: both in planetside affairs and shipping lines.
Over seven years of plying the trade lanes.
He paid attention, and due to his high intelligence and education he seemed to pick up skills wherever he went. The Merchant Marine served him well in this regard. He left after 13 years service with the shipping lines (he calls them his "lucky 13"), retiring at the same age he would have if he'd had the 20 year career in the Marines that he'd expected to have.
He expected to return to Lunion for his retirement, but due to the Armistice, somehow found himself on this rock instead. He's torn between the desire to go out and see some of the adventure he missed out on as a youth, and his more rational and mature desires to simply get himself home without getting shot up yet again.
Last edited by forbin on Sat Dec 28, 2013 6:28 pm, edited 5 times in total.
As part of his surgeries, Elliott was provided with a prosthetic exoskeleton. Very thin and discreet, it is hardly noticeable to others unless they have an extensive medical background or are looking for it.
DM+6 to STR, DM+2 to DEX.
His resulting UPP when the exoskeleton is active is 8 7 9 B F B.
The exoskeleton is for a medical condition, not a military or exploratory unit.
Power is provided from batteries; a month charge per 0.5kg battery with partial power recovery from movements. It is composed of thin polymer strips and other lightweight alloys and composites.
This is a high TL device (13+).
Elliott has 2 battery packs: one he wears, and a backup that he keeps on a charger connected to his stateroom power. He regularly exchanges these so they age or wear evenly.
Along with the exoskeleton, Elliott has a wafer jack with a wireless connector implant that allows him to access computers directly under conscious control. This is something he can manually turn on and off so that hostiles cannot use it as an attack mechanism.
Posted here as text so I can refer to it quickly.
* = Typically carried all the time.
** = Typically carried unless it would be problematic, such as Law Level.
* Clothing worn as appropriate to situation.
1 Knife Sheath, regular "tool knife"
Gun cleaning / small parts repair / maintenance kits: one for each weapon.
Last edited by forbin on Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Single asterisk means almost always carrying or wearing unless he really cannot. For example he might wear his watch to bed (some folks do) but the handcomp would certainly be on the bedside table. Things like the HUD contacts and sunglasses would depend on the situation but he'd usually have one or the other with him even if not armed with a weapon at that moment. For example, going into a bar at night in the bad part of town, he'd probably wear the contacts and maybe have the sunglasses in a jacket pocket. Of course, he'd probably be armed for that. Noontime doing common business on Raweh, probably glasses in his shirt pocket, wearing them outside, and maybe the contacts in a case in a pants pocket.
Double asterisk means "wearing or carrying whenever possible, at discretion of law level and situation." The suit of reflec under-armor is just between 1 and 2 asterisks: worn very often. The ballistic cloth jacket, a little less so. The pistol and knife are worn in the appropriate holster or sheath depending on the law level; on low law levels they're only displayed when this is no cause for concern and won't provoke anything.
If Elliott is going into known or extremely expected trouble, he can be counted on to violate only 1 law level without being asked. For example, he'd very likely wear the pistol and knife, thoroughly concealed, at LL 5 unless afraid of getting caught. He nearly always wear his pistol in LL 0-4. More likely concealed than not as LL's go up to 4. A similar pattern would go with the knife but at LL 9, not 5. Otherwise he generally obeys the law levels.